What elements of congressional “power” are based on senority?
One of the reasons I have favored the idea of Term Limits on congressional types is that I’ve been operating under the assumption that a freshman congressman has more difficulty getting the job done as compared to one that’s been in office for several terms.
I am aware that there will be a degree of this just due to familiarity with how things get done.
What I am asking is if there really is (according to the laws, rules, regulations, etc that govern the Congress) a benefit to being a third or forth term congressman as compared to a first term?
If there is a difference between House and Senate in this regard, please specify.
Committee and sub-committee chairmanships are based primarily on seniority. The two parties in each of the two houses have slightly different rules, and seniority-based promotion is no longer automatic, but it is still a major factor. You aren’t going to get a committee chairmanship until you’ve been around for a while.
In addition, as a practical matter, you can’t get elected to an all-important party leadership post until you’ve served several terms and had a chance to demonstrate your skill at fund-raising, schmoozing, raising money, glad-handing, funneling campaign money to colleagues, trading favors, and putting the arm on corporate contributors. Did I mention that raising money was also important?